Apple Blueberry Crisp | The Seasonal Crossover Dessert!

Crisp, cobbler, crumble, buckles, bettys! These desserts are famously popular and in this little version, I'm headed in the direction of a crisp! I simply love them!

Crisp! Yes! It's coming to that time of year that we start to crave desserts and yummy sweet things that warm the kitchen and soothe our sweet tooth. What I totally love about this little recipe is it's flexible! It's anchored on the apples but the berry component looks back to the delicious fruits of summer and in this case, I chose blueberries. But don't fret. If you don't have blueberries, any berry will do. Don't have fresh? Then use frozen! Many stores even carry frozen berry blends and that for me too would be simply amazing. 

Now, let's specific about those apples. Would you like your crisp to turn out sweeter or a little more tart, that is the consideration! Want it sweeter? Go with a red-skinned variety. My suggestion? Fuji, Braeburn (pictured) or Red Delicious if that's all you have access to. Now keep in mind, those beautiful berries in the recipe are going to bring the acidity and tartness. But if you really want to drive home the tart, then choose a green apple like Granny Smith that is definitely known to be a touch more sour. You'll notice too that in the crisp crust portion of the recipe, the brown sugar is "packed". Why? because we want to make sure it's overall going to be sweet like a dessert should be! So just keep all that in mind and know that you're in the drivers seat with how sweet or tart the final dessert will be.

Now for the vessel! Let's go with a cast iron skillet if you have it! Why? Because it's going to cook so evenly, those apples will get good and tender from the moisture of the berries and the crust will crisp up beautifully! If you don't have one, use any other metal pan of the same size. It will work! 

So enough of the chit chat. You get the direction and without making this too complicated, just jump in and try it. It's so easy, so fresh tasting and so completely nostalgic in composition. When I serve desserts such as this one, I prefer matching it up with a generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream, so that's a yummy serving suggestion! Enjoy and welcome to Fall very soon! 

Ingredients

• 2 ½ c. apples, peeled, cored, medium diced
• 2 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• ½ c. all-purpose flour
• ½ c. oats
• 1 t. cinnamon
• ¾ t. nutmeg
• 2/3 c. brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 c. butter, salted, slightly softened

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 10-inch cast iron pan with non-stick cooking spray. Spread chopped apples in bottom of pan, sprinkle blueberries on top of apples. Drizzle fruit with lemon juice and zest.

In a small bowl, combine flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Cut in butter using a fork or a pastry cutter until combined and butter is in small pieces. Sprinkle this mixture on top of fruit. Bake 30-40 minutes, or until apples are soft, fruit is bubbling, and crisp is browned on top. Serve warm. It’s delicious with vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream! Serves 3-4.

Adapted from: rachel cooks